JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser.
You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website.

This website requires cookies to provide all of its features. For more information on what data is contained in the cookies, please see our Privacy Policy page. To accept cookies from this site, please click the Allow button below.

Dog can predict three-year-old’s epileptic fits before they happen

Charlie the Great Dane is able to tell his owners when their three-year-old daughter is about to have an epileptic fit up to 20 minutes before it happens.

According to bbc.co.uk, the Lynch family from County Clare in Ireland says their pet dog Charlie warns them Brianna is about to have a fit by circling around her. He then pins her against a wall carefully to prevent her from falling over when she’s experiencing a fit.

Brianna’s mother, Arabella, says the dog hasn’t undergone any training; he is just very attached and protective of her daughter. “Charlie is so sensitive to her needs; if the other dogs get boisterous, he will stand by her side to ensure she doesn’t get knocked over,” she told clarechampion.ie.

“We know when he is acting strange, she is going to have a seizure. If the postman comes, he will guide her into the ditch. You would have to see it to believe it.”

Dogs have been known to be able to sniff out and detect cancer, but there has never been any scientific proof that dogs can predict seizures – although many studies have been undertaken.

Dr Claire Guest, chief executive of the Medical Detection Dogs, a charity which trains dogs to help those with serious health conditions, says it unknown how a dog could predict a fit. She speculates that some dogs might be able to read visual signals that show that something is wrong.